The company put its thumb on the scale of justice to unfairly tilt the collection process in its favor.

Also revealing is this data on what Midland and its parent company, Encore Capital Group, pay for the debts they collect:

Midland and Encore have paid more than $1.8 billion to obtain 33 million customer accounts with a face value of about $54.7 billion, or an average cost of about three cents on the dollar, Swanson said.

It’s about time someone cracked down on the debt buyer robo-signers. Until now, only the foreclosure industry has come under real scrutiny, but it is the debt buying industry that invented the practice, as far as I can tell.

Sam Glover is a lawyer and the founder and Editor in Chief of Lawyerist.com. He also works with lawyers on motion practice and appeals, and is President of the board of directors of HOME Line, a nonprofit Minnesota tenant advocacy organization.